Treating mobile like the fourth, unique media channel it is

By Dirk Barmscheidt

It seems so obvious to create a mobile product, whether for editorial content or e-commerce.

The rules are simple:

The mobile handset screen is smaller, the bandwidth lower, and the user is on his way. Therefore, the mobile product has to be less than the fixed-line offer (less articles/products, less features, less channels).

Digital is digital, ergo the content and feature structures on mobile and fixed-line have to be the same.

These three steps are definitely your first steps in the wrong direction. Mobile is not only the fourth screen, it is the fourth media channel — and needs to be interpreted individually by every brand and offer.

In 2002, when E-Plus started i-mode in Germany, everyone thought mobile would be used as a sports encyclopedia. But the opposite was reality; near-live news and sports live tracker were the killer features on the first mobile multimedia platform. No one wanted to search for the winner of the 1960 football national championship in Finland.

Ten years later, the mobile world is the same; users are surfing differently to the fixed-line Internet. The visits are shorter, the frequency is higher, and daytime usage in particular is fundamentally different.

What does this mean for the Webmaster?

The fixed-line content is your store, where you can shop for what you want.

Put the latest content and new products on the mobile home. Every hour, up to every minute, in an ideal world.

Mobile users are keen to surf on complex sites, so the navigation must be intuitive to understand.

Mobile phones and smartphones are the leading social network devices. Encourage your customers and users to give you and your community feedback.

Analyse the mobile usage separately from the fixed-line usage and present the content based on what you learn.

Create the position of “mobile Webmaster” to focus exclusively on the usability optimisation and the best content production!

If you want to be successful in mobile, you have to be committed 100%!